Greener Electronics

Every year, hundreds of thousands of old computers and mobile phones are dumped in landfills or burned in smelters. Thousands more are exported, often illegally, from the Europe, US, Japan and other industrialised countries, to Asia. There, workers at scrap yards, some of whom are children, are exposed to a cocktail of toxic chemicals and poisons.

A Chinese child sits amongst a pile of wires and e-waste. Children can often be found dismantling e-waste containing many hazardous chemicals known to be potentially very damaging to children's health.

The rate at which these mountains of obsolete electronic products are growing will reach crisis proportions unless electronics corporations that profit from making and selling these devices face up to their responsibilities. It is possible to make clean, durable products that can be upgraded, recycled, or disposed of safely and don't end up as hazardous waste in someone's backyard.

Discover more about e-waste, what happens after it is thrown away, which companies are top and bottom of the toxic product class and the solutions to the problem.

The latest updates

 

Greener electronics guide updated

Feature story | October 27, 2010 at 7:24

The latest edition of the Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics exposes the widening gap between companies that make good on their promises to clean up, and those that don't. While some of the top electronics manufacturers are failing to keep...

Following the E waste Trail

Video | May 5, 2009 at 9:13

Greenpeace has been investigating the immoral and illegal e-waste dumping in developing countries since 2002. After China, India, Pakistan and Ghana, this is the story of how one very broken TV managed to avoid being tested and recycled according...

Success! Phillips make a recycling policy u-turn

Blog entry by bunny | February 27, 2009

An old Philips TV at a scrap yard in Ghana A Greenpeace Europe update: Last week we broke the shocking story about what actually happens to electronic waste in Europe; instead of being safely recycled in the UK or Europe where it...

Undercover operation exposes illegal dumping of e-waste in Nigeria

Feature story | February 22, 2009 at 21:19

Following a three-year undercover investigation, we’ve shown once again that electronic waste - like your old TV set - still isn't being responsibly recycled like it's supposed to be. Instead, e-waste is being disguised as second-hand goods and...

Greenpeace - New Improved Ranking criteria explained

Publication | June 26, 2008 at 23:12

From the eighth edition of its Guide to Greener Electronics, Greenpeace will score electronics brands on tightened sets of chemicals and electronic waste (e-waste) criteria (both of which include new criteria), and on new energy criteria. The...

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